Catching Her Bear (13 page)

“You really do near to Izzy and Rye.”

“Not only does Rye live down the street, his family and my whole family live nearby too. It might be why we’ve been best friends since grade school.”

How wonderful to have grown up surrounded by a ton of kids, especially brothers and sisters.

Kalan escorted her inside, and she immediately felt at home. The living room, dining area, and kitchen took up the front of the house, which was compact and cozy. A hallway off the living room led to what she suspected were the bedrooms.

She’d grown up in a place where her parents made her take off her shoes in the wintertime for fear of tracking in snow and dirt. Even when they weren’t home, those in charge of her made sure she did as they had demanded. While her mom was a fan of flowered material and stripes on her furniture, Kalan’s design was simple—dark browns and black. It had a definite masculine flair to it.

If she lived here, she would have added something other than sports memorabilia on the wall, but he was a bachelor so it made sense. “This is really nice.”

“I’m not into decorating, but it serves my purpose. Let me show you the spare bedroom. You’ll have to use the hall bath if that’s okay. I have my own in the master so we won’t have to share.”

Sharing wouldn’t have been all that bad. She might even get to glimpse him naked, or at the very least, see him with a towel wrapped around his deliciously damp body. Kalan placed a hand on her arm, jolting her out of her reverie. “Oh, thanks.”

He escorted her down the hallway and into a decent-sized room that didn’t look anything like the rest of the house. The comforter on the queen-sized bed was a thick duvet done in pinks and greens, and four large pillows leaned against the headboard. The watercolor over the bed was of a lush waterfall surrounded by deep forest greens, very different from the photos in the living room. “This is amazing.”

“You can thank Blair. She feared that if our cousins from up North ever visited and there wasn’t room at my parents, they’d freak if they had to stay at my house given the way I’d furnished it.”

“You have a nice family.”

“I do indeed.”

A knock sounded on the front door and Kalan stiffened. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

Elana had held up quite well over the whole breaking and entering thing, but the way Kalan commanded her to remain in the room tightened a band around her chest. She closed the door and locked it in case someone had followed them. Just because Kalan had said no one had, didn’t mean this intruder hadn’t avoided detection.

A moment later, someone tapped on her door. “Elana, it’s me, Izzy.”

Relief weakened her knees and she unlocked the door and tore it open. In seconds, she was hugging her best friend.

“Dad just called me and told me what happened, so I hurried right over.” Izzy wrapped an arm around her waist. “Come sit in the living room and tell me all about it. I can’t believe you have to deal with yet another tragedy.”

Once they were seated, Kalan brought out some iced tea. “Mom made this last night and thought I could use some.”

Elana looked up at him. He seemed to be trying hard to be a good host. “Thank you.”

“While I change out of my uniform, you two chat.”

Once he was out of sight, Izzy faced her. “You’ll be safer here than at my parents’ house.”

That wasn’t what she expected her to say. “Why’s that? Because they need to be at work during the day?”

She glanced to the side as if she was hiding something. “Rye isn’t the only werewolf around.”

Elana had figured that much out, though she’d never asked who was a
Were
and who wasn’t. Then it hit her. “Is Kalan one?”

“No, but Rye’s family are all werewolves, and they live close by. They can help protect you. His father is retired and said he’d be willing to come over here when Kalan has to go to work.”

“That’s so sweet of him. I’m happy to stay here until the forensic team finishes with my apartment, but then I’d like my life back. I do have a store to run. My flowers can only live so long without care.” Kalan wanted her to stay away for days, but she couldn’t afford the loss in revenue.

A small smile lifted Izzy’s lips. “My powers are not gone, you know. I can keep the flowers alive if you want.”

“I appreciate that, but that isn’t the point. I enjoy working.” She sagged against the seat. “I’ll go stir crazy sitting around here all day worrying if he’ll come after me—whoever
he
is.”

Izzy cocked a brow. “Perhaps you can convince Kalan to stay home and
entertain
you.”

“Izzy! It isn’t like that. I’m staying here so he can protect me.”

“Protection can take a lot of different forms.” Her friend winked.

“You’re a hopeless romantic.”

Izzy looked down the hallway to where Kalan had gone. “I know the circumstances suck, but aren’t you a little impressed that Kalan wanted to bring you to his home to protect you?”

“It’s his job.”

“I’m not so sure. I asked Rye, and he said Kalan has never brought anyone home before who has needed protection.”

“He told me that too. Kalan is going out of his way to be nice, but he seems to have some hidden agenda, only I can’t figure out what it is.”

“He probably doesn’t know how to act around you.”

“What do you mean?”

Izzy clasped Elana’s hands. “He’s probably afraid of saying the wrong thing and upsetting you more. You’ve just lost your parents and now you’ve been robbed.”

Robbed?
“Do you know something I don’t? I never went inside to see if he’d taken anything.”

Izzy released her grip. “No, but usually when someone breaks into a place, it’s because he wants something.”

“I wanted to go back and look, but Kalan wouldn’t let me.”

“Do you think you’re ready to handle seeing another violation?”

Her friend was probably right. “I guess not.” She leaned her head back and sighed. “You know what really sucks?”

“More than what you’ve already been through?”

“Yes. The last time I saw my parents, they were acting really nice to me.” Izzy’s eyes widened. “I know, right? They even gave me a present. Let me show you. It’s in my room. I’m not exactly sure what to make of it.”

Elana rushed back to the bedroom and snatched her purse off the bed. As she stepped from the room, she glanced at the closed door down the hall, wondering what was taking Kalan so long. Most likely, he was giving her time to be with Izzy. That was nice of him, though she wasn’t sure she wanted him to turn into Mr. Polite. In her dreams, he’d been anything but.

When she returned to the living room, she opened her bag, lifted the six-inch long piece of highly polished red onyx, and held it out. “Mom said they picked it up in India for me because it reminded her of my good heart.”

“That’s really nice.” Izzy fingered it. “Did she say what this was used for over there?”

“I think it’s just a decorative piece. My folks collected stuff like that all the time. They have a green marble pyramid about four-inches tall that they purchased in Egypt, and a gold-rimmed stone they found in South Africa. They have no purpose except to look pretty.”

Heavy footsteps sounded down the hall. When she looked up, her breath caught at Kalan’s rugged good looks. His sandy colored hair was wet and he was clean-shaven, but perhaps it was the white T-shirt outlining his muscular body that instantly switched her from sad to glad.

“What do you have there?” Kalan strode over to her.

“It was a gift from my parents.”

He held out his hand. “May I see it?”

Izzy gave it to him. “It’s sardonyx,” Elana said.

“Nice and heavy.” Like Izzy, he ran his fingers across the surface, but his gaze seemed far away. “When did you get it from them?”

“Just a few hours before they were murdered.”

His brows pinched. “Did they always bring something back with them for you?”

“No, but maybe with them getting older they wanted a better relationship with me. I was hoping anyway.” She looked off to the side and threaded her fingers together. Just thinking that her parents might have wanted to mend things between them brought on fresh tears.

Kalan said nothing about her outburst as he flipped the sardonyx over then back again, for which she was thankful. Izzy handed her a tissue from her purse, and Elana dabbed her eyes. “Thanks.”

“There’s something about this that seems familiar. Do you mind if I keep it for a few days? I promise to give it back.”

As long as he returned it, she was good. “Sure.”

“Izzy, is Rye home?” Kalan asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you think Elana could stay with you for an hour or so? I have an errand to run.”

“No problem.” Izzy stood and looked down at her. “Come on.”

If Kalan hadn’t sounded so intense, she would have asked if she could come along with him. Guess she’d just have to trust him.

Because the day was so pleasant, Izzy had walked over, and they headed back the same way. Even though the houses weren’t too far apart, Elana couldn’t help but glance around, expecting someone to jump out at her.

“I think we should have an aura cleansing in your apartment,” Izzy said.

“What good will that do?”

“Didn’t you listen to anything Mom said while we were growing up?”

“Of course, but I don’t see how that will help if it was an attempted robbery.” Kalan said he was going to find someone to clean it up so she didn’t have to see everything they’d destroyed.

“I wish this hadn’t happened, but once Mom does her magic, it won’t feel creepy being in there.” Izzy opened the side door to Rye’s house and let them in.

Elana sighed. “Okay.”

Izzy smiled and gave her a nod, silently letting her know she would do anything to help her feel safe.

“You don’t lock your door?” Elana asked.

Izzy shook her head. “Rye’s here. Nothing can harm us.”

Perhaps werewolves had more powers than she realized. Rye came out of a back room and rushed over to her, gently gripping her shoulders as he looked into her face. “Kalan told me what happened. I’m so sorry.” Rye wrapped his arms around her, giving her a supportive hug. “How are you doing?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess.”

“How about some cookies to munch on?” Izzy asked.

Elana slipped from Rye’s grasp and followed Izzy into the kitchen. Her friend grabbed one of the two tins on the counter and opened it.

Izzy looked over to where Rye was seated. “Rye, did you eat all of the cookies?”

“Guilty, but there’s another tin. Eat those.”

Pink colored her face. “Well, crap.”

This wasn’t like Izzy. “What’s wrong?”

“Have a seat.” Elana plopped down on the stool in front of the island. “Remember when I took you to Ophelia to do a spell to rid Kalan from your head?”

“A lot of good that did.” Elana could think of nothing else now. If anything, her obsession had grown worse.

Izzy leaned her elbows on the counter. “About that. I really believed that you and Kalan would make a cute couple, and I wanted to give you two a chance to get to know one another.”

Elana lowered her chin. “Isadora Berta, what did you do?”

“I asked Ophelia to put a slightly different spell on you than what you asked for.”

“Izzy, spill it.”

“You are such an amazing person and I wanted to give you the gift of self-confidence around Kalan.”

Elana was speechless. Of late, she had been more comfortable around him and had been rather brazen in her thoughts. “A spell? How long is this spell supposed to last?”

“Maybe forty-eight hours, though it could be a week. I really don’t know.”

From her lack of eye contact, something else was going on. If they hadn’t grown up as close as sisters, she might not have recognized the signs. “What else did she do?”

Izzy blew out a breath. “You know how Kalan always seemed so out of sorts around you? Running into doors? Dropping things?”

Her wording almost made her laugh. “You mean how he always tried to run away from me?”

“I believe he was trying to come to grips with his intense desire for you.”

Elana threw up her hands. “Now you’re being ridiculous. I might believe he likes me, and maybe even cares for me, but desires me? No way.”

“Regardless of what you think, Ophelia gave me some herbs to put into some chocolate chip cookies I made for Kalan. It was supposed to make him less clumsy and nervous. It allowed him to be himself around you.”

“That was really sweet of you to try, but he still acts odd a lot of the time whenever I’m near. Is that what’s in these cookies?” She nodded to the second tin.

“Yes. I wouldn’t chance eating them if I were you.” Izzy tossed them in the trash.

Just as well. She didn’t need anything else to mess with her head.

Izzy leaned her elbows on the counter. “All I ask is that you keep an open mind.”

Now her friend was talking nonsense. “About what? The fact that he might like me?”

“About everything.”

Now what the hell did that mean?

‡

H
appy to get
out of the house, Kalan headed directly toward James’s cabin on the other side of Silver Lake. Being with Elana was causing his bear to revolt. He wanted her bad. Even when he was in the bedroom changing out of his uniform, he yearned to mate with her.